"If Woody Allen had become a historian, he might have come up with Napoleon's Privates. Learned, ribald and very funny." Chris Ryan, New York Times-bestselling author of Sex at Dawn: The Prehistoric Origins of Modern Sexuality

Its so great to have a truly funny (and poetic) writer putting the lurid colors back on the pale marble, where they belong... Full of the get-a-load-of-this factorthose juicy, vivid stories you cant wait to tell your friends. To my mind, that quality is the distinguishing trait of great nonfiction. Teller of Penn & Teller, entertainer in Las Vegas

Popular history at its best. Norman Cantor, Professor Emeritus of History, New York University.

Its refreshing to find such an entertaining writer whose history is also meticulously researched. Perrottets take on the past is erudite, original and wittyeven, frequently, hilarious. Paul Cartledge, Professor of Classics, Cambridge University